Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sophie had smiled so much her cheeks ached as she shook another hand of a Revival citizen. The day was perfect. The sun was shining, it was warm but not stifling, and the new town square was so pretty it could be in a movie. They’d set up the festival so the booths and community sponsors lined the area, so as to not mar the beauty of the new center. Fresh green grass was the perfect contrast to the giant white gazebo where the city orchestra played.
Sophie made sure huge, lush flowers hung in pots, dripping foliage in bright colors. She’d also lined the gazebo with twinkle lights and strung them across the old trees. It was gorgeous, and she experienced a sense of immense satisfaction at the outcome.
She couldn’t wait to see it all lit up.
Mary Beth Crowley hugged her. “This is beyond my wildest imagination.”
Sophie laughed. “It was a group effort, as you well know.”
“But still, I’m good, but I know when I’ve met my match.” The petite blond spitfire shook her head. “Seriously, without you it would have been nice, but you took it to a whole other level.”
“Thank you, I’m glad you’re happy.” Sophie couldn’t deny the event gave her a different type of satisfaction than she’d ever experienced before. What she loved was that the rewards were so immediate. Yes, there’d been the normal chaos, and craziness, and last-minute disasters that accompanied these types of things, but it was all worth it when people came up to her to thank her so enthusiastically. It’s what she’d always loved, to take something rough and unpolished and make it shine.
Mary Beth smiled. “Griffin told me about your idea for the forest area at the end of the river.”
“And?”
“I love it. It’s genius.” She winked. “Best of both worlds, you know?”
“I do.” Over the small blonde’s shoulder, Sophie’s attention caught on Ryder talking to a couple people she didn’t recognize. As though he sensed her gaze, he glanced at her and smiled that smile he had just for her.
Somehow, admitting she loved him had lifted a weight off her chest. And last night she’d poured every drop of energy into showing him how much he mattered to her. They were low on sleep, but it was so worth it. She’d think about everything else on Monday, on the road back to Chicago. But she was determined to enjoy this time with him.
After all, it could be her last. She didn’t delude herself. When she got back to Revival she’d have to tell him he couldn’t move with her. She wanted to pretend, but she knew the truth. He didn’t belong in Chicago. They’d end, and there’d be no coming back. This, right now, was a temporary respite.
So she’d enjoy it while she could.
“I know that look.” Mary Beth’s voice shook her from her trance.
Sophie jerked back to the present. “I’m sorry?”
She laughed. “You do know you’re crushing the dreams of all the single women in Revival.”
Sophie shrugged. She wasn’t going to explain those dreams might still be alive. Instead she said, “He’s quite a man.”
“That he is.” Mary Beth turned to peer over her shoulder. “It took a lot to get him here, but it was worth the effort. Some people just fit, you know?”
“I do know.” And she understood what Mary Beth meant. Ryder did belong there. He seemed like part of the fabric and flow of the town. It was why she knew she couldn’t take it away from him.
It would be unfair.
Mary Beth touched her arm. “You could be one of those people.”
Shocked, Sophie blinked at her. “What?”
“This town, it needs people like you. I’m just saying you wear Revival well.”
“Oh.” Sophie didn’t know what to say, or even what to think, but it felt a little like her worldview had just tilted. She laughed, awkwardly. “That’s just because you’ve never seen me on Michigan Avenue.”
Mary Beth nodded. “Maybe.”
Sophie knew where she belonged, and it wasn’t Revival.
* * *
Later that night, as a local band played covers of eighties classic rock, Sophie lay with Ryder on a big blanket and looked at the stars. It was late, and this was the final show before everyone went home for the night. Sophie experienced an unexpected burst of longing that this, right here, would last forever. That she would never have to move from this time and space and she could exist here, holding hands with Ryder.
“This reminds me of being a kid.” His tone was happy and a bit wistful.
She looked at him, his perfect profile, strong jaw, and corded neck. How was it possible this man loved her? She had no idea. “How so?”
“In my town, during the summer, every Friday night there would be a concert in the park. My mom would pack a picnic and we’d go up there and listen to music and eat cold fried chicken. It’s one of my favorite memories. Once a summer we all get together and go for old times’ sake.”
She rolled on her side and propped her head on her open palm. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up like that.”
He looked at her. “I’m lucky. I know that.”
“Why’d you leave your hometown and come here when you’re so close to your family?”
He put his hand under his head. “I love my hometown, but I started to feel like everyone saw me one way and I wanted something different. My grade school teachers always wanted to get out of speeding with a warning. And when I went out with a woman, she’d already heard everything there was to know about me an hour after I asked her out. I guess I got to the point where I wanted to build a future based on who I wanted to be versus who I was growing up.”
One of the things she and Ryder shared was wild beginnings, and she knew all about his past exploits. She teased. “You know, no matter how respectable you are, you’re always going to bring out a woman’s wild side.”
He pushed a lock of hair from her cheek. “I don’t care about other women, all I care about is you.”
She bit her bottom lip. “I’m not sure what I did to deserve you.”
“I could say the same.”
She shook her head. “I feel like I’m ruining your life.”
He met her gaze. “Sophie, no matter what happens, you are one thing I’ll never regret.”
“Why’s that?” She wanted to know, wanted to feel it down in her bones that he felt the same way about her that she did about him.
He pushed her back so she lay flat on the ground before putting his hand on her stomach. “Because with you, I don’t have to hold anything back. Most people, even if they fall in love, don’t get that. I don’t take the privilege for granted.”
Yes, that was exactly how she felt. Even in this mess they’d created, he understood her. And she understood him.
She draped an arm over his neck. “I want to say, to promise we’re going to work this all out.”
“I know, so do I.”
“I keep thinking if I could just go back and stay away from you, we’d be saved.” She kissed the line of his jaw. “But I understand now that was never going to happen. The pull is too strong. I was gone the second I laid eyes on you.”
He squeezed her tight. “Is that why you were so sassy?”
She smiled. “I didn’t understand I’d just met my match. All I understood was when I looked at you I needed to be careful.”
“Are you sorry?”
She shook her head. “It’s selfish, but I can’t be.”
“Me either.” Then he kissed her under the stars while the band played on.
* * *
The rest of the weekend past in a blur of activity and increasingly depraved sex, each time becoming more desperate as the hour for her to leave drew near.
And now there they were, in what felt like a blink of an eye. Sophie stood in front of him, bag at her feet, ready to leave. Ryder had just dragged her up from the floor where he’d stripped her naked and impaled her. Claiming her in the most visceral way possible. Communicating all that he wanted from her in the only way he knew how.
He encircled her waist. “Call me when you get there?”
“Of course.”
He bent and kissed her lips. “I’m assuming eleven o’clock orgasms are on the table.”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Can we graduate to phone sex? All that sexting is hard to coordinate.” She lifted to whisper in his ear, “And I like how you sound when you come.”
“Sophie.” He fisted her hair in his hand and kissed her, long and deep and fierce. Kissed her like he was dying, because in a way he was.
The knowledge that this could be the last time lay unspoken and heavy between them.
When he pulled away, tears wet her cheeks, and he brushed them away, hating to see her sad. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m trying. I just—”
He kissed her again, cutting off the words. Not wanting to hear them. They both knew when she returned, that would probably be it.
She wasn’t going to ask him to come with her. But he understood now, in a way he hadn’t that night back in Chicago, that it wasn’t because she didn’t love him but because she did. She couldn’t ask him to make the sacrifice.
And he wouldn’t be able to lie. It would be a sacrifice.
He couldn’t imagine a life in Chicago, and the only reason he’d go was because of her. He’d do it, but she knew him too well.
On Wednesday, he’d look at her and tell her he’d go with her, and she’d say no.
He’d insist. She’d refuse.
Nobody had ever made the sacrifice for her before, and she wasn’t going to start with him. Because ironically, she loved him too much to ask him to make it.
He’d insist, but he had no idea how she’d respond. He’d have to see what happened when she returned.
“I know.” Their lips met again. Mouths fused and melded as tongues twined. And when he could stand it no more, he released her. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She clutched at him, wringing the very life out of him. “Please know how much.”
He rubbed her back. “I do.”
He wanted to tell her to come back to him but didn’t. Instead, he kissed her one last time and let her go. He stood on his porch and watched her get into her girly Porsche. Top down she backed out of the driveway. Once in the street, she stopped and looked at him.
Her hair was back in a ponytail, her oversized Chanel sunglasses that screamed “city” in place. She looked exactly how she’d looked the first time he’d seen her. Full of sass and sunshine and hot summer breezes.
She waved.
He waved back.
And then she was gone.